


Together to the End

by Siver



Series: A Change in Fate [6]
Category: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, ffx crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-24 02:05:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16171379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siver/pseuds/Siver
Summary: 'His hand against the ground as he gathered power. A shower of golden sparks and He appeared in a swirl of white feathered wings. Awe filled him. Magnificent. Dark eyes met his, deep, but he’d know them anywhere.'Part of my Ghost Trick/Final Fantasy X crossover series.





	Together to the End

**Author's Note:**

> Done for an unprompted fictober.
> 
> This is rough and just me placating my brain because some ideas won’t leave me alone.
> 
> An ending-more epilogue really, to my random piecemeal mess of FFX/Ghost Trick pieces. https://archiveofourown.org/series/933786 Keep everything together, if disordered. 
> 
> I don’t know what their plan was either beyond some Sissel time travel. I just wanted a final aeon Cabanela and could only see that happening if they actually had some kind of plan in place to stop everything. Otherwise they’d just pull Yuna’s group’s stunt. (fight your god!)

He was falling. Images danced across Jowd’s vision. His memories and feelings swam in their last desperate act.

His hand against the ground as he gathered power. A shower of golden sparks and He appeared in a swirl of white feathered wings. Awe filled him. Magnificent. Dark eyes met his, deep, but he’d know them anywhere.

An exchanged nod of understanding. It was time.

They flew. Light cascaded over them. Dazzling and warm. For the shortest of time they knew only a shared joy, but such moments weren’t to last. Couldn’t last while such a being existed.

An overwhelming presence. Despair and pain. Nauseating and confusing. Their final battle.

Stone beneath him. Was it cold or warm? He couldn’t say. He felt nothing until the tip of a wing brushed across him in a gentle caress. His vision faded.

A cry pierced the air. To call it birdsong would be to call a candle the sun. No words could ever suffice. Anguish and rage. Sorrow wrapped around a heart rending beauty.

If he could only see those eyes again. If he could speak. Be the reminder. This time. This time they knew what they did.

He could only fall into the darkness and wonder what it would be like to watch everything you tried to prevent happen anyway. To allow it to happen for the slimmest ray of hope.

Memories, old and new, merged. A hand ever at his back and words he couldn’t remember urging him onward against the desire to fall there, to rest and leave the world behind.

His hand brushing against his cheek, only water indeed. He should never have allowed him to come as if he had any choice. If they could have only remained in that pool. It was too much and he turned away.

This time, no efforts were made to disguise the hard edged stare and the set jaw aimed his way as he stepped out of the temple, his first trial complete. He made his feelings plain and took his place at his side.

At his side until forced apart at the bitter end. It was no longer in their hands. He could only wait, hope, watch…

“…owd… Jowd… Jowd!”

Jowd slowly opened his eyes and the sight before him grew clearer. A ceiling above. A familiar bed and sitting over him… concerned eyes, a tendril of lilac hair falling across her cheek. Her voice light and achingly familiar.

“There you are.”

He swallowed and managed to keep himself from bolting upright.

“You were having a nightmare,” Alma said.

He couldn’t help it. His laugh rang loud around the room as Alma’s eyes widened.

“Something like that,” he managed.

He pulled her closer into a tight hug. She was here. They made it… didn’t they? He slowly released her, wishing he could hold her forever, but there was something else he still had to do. He had to be sure.

“Are you all right?” Alma asked.

He nodded and rose from the bed. “There’s something I need to check on.”

“Now? Training isn’t until later…”

“Yes. I’ll be back soon.”

He left quickly. He could say. He could ask, but he found himself afraid of the potential answers. What if? What if… He couldn’t face that. He had to see for himself.

The sun was only just rising, but the air was already growing warm. Jowd paused for only a moment to feel the warmth, such a contrast to the clammy gloom of Zanarkand. He couldn’t stay. Urgency spurred him on.

As he hurried down the path, a young girl’s voice sounded in his ears. It didn’t take long to spot her—Lynne, several years younger now talking energetically to… Yomiel. Jowd smiled. With Alma here there was little doubt, but it was a relief all the same.

He moved on, until he stopped in front of the old familiar door. Jowd knocked, but there was no response. Had he already left? _Was he here at all?_ He was an early riser, but something compelled him to slip inside to see. He had to know.

“Cabanela?”

Still no reply, but he quickly found him. He was in bed and despite the warmth, he shivered and his face was drawn while his breaths came rapidly.

Jowd breathed out and knelt next to the bed. He cautiously laid a hand on his shoulder. “Cabanela. Wake up.”

Cabanela’s eyes cracked opened. He stared at Jowd. No, through him, Jowd quickly realized and his voice came from somewhere far away. Or some time, Jowd thought.

“We flew.”

An exhilaration followed by a chill passed through him. Jowd could only see snow white feathers and dark eyes drawing him in. He shook himself and tightened his grip on his shoulder.

“It’s over. Come back to me.”

Cabanela blinked and seemed to snap back to himself. Now he really did stare at Jowd and a slow smile spread across his face.

“There you are and heeere we are,” he said brightly.

Jowd stepped back in just in time for Cabanela to spring up.

“Alma!”

“Woke me up,” Jowd said as a smile of his own formed. “And I’m afraid poor Yomiel can’t escape Lynne no matter how early he rises. I’m starting to think that girl somehow gained your sleeping habits.”

Cabanela’s eyes flicked to the window. “Early indeeed. What are you doin’ here when you should be spending the morning with Alma?”

Jowd’s levity faded. “I had to be certain,” he said. “There was no knowing what would happen. If you’d be able to make it out of that.”

“Heeey, I told you I’d always follow. What kind of Guardian would I be if I left you at the grand finale?”

“If you had that choice,” Jowd said darkly. “Sin…”

A shadow crossed Cabanela’s face. Jowd stepped forward to embrace him and felt the tension in his back. What did he remember? What had he seen and felt?

He pressed him close before stepping back and kept a hand on Cabanela’s shoulder.

“What was it…” he trailed off at the shake of Cabanela’s head. Yes, maybe some questions were better left unanswered, at least for now and some things defied words. And there were other pressing matters. What did they face now? He couldn’t imagine the impact they caused, known only to them.

“I hope we did the right thing. There’s no knowing just how much we’ve changed.”

Cabanela’s voice was tight and his eyes pained. “We did them a mercy.”

He then smiled again before Jowd could respond, shedding all distance. Yet Jowd couldn’t help but wonder how forced it was.

“And what of Sissel?”

“I don’t know,” Jowd admitted. “But I have a feeling we’ll meet him again sooner than later.”

Cabanela suddenly stepped away toward the door. “Weeell, enough of the dark! I want to feel the sun on my face. Looks like a looovely day.”

He spun out the door and Jowd sighed. There was so much to contend with now, but he had only died. He hadn’t been changed. He hadn’t been drawn into Sin. But for as long as Cabanela wanted to keep such things to himself, he would have better luck getting a chocobo to play blitzball than getting him to talk.

Jowd shook his head and followed after only to find Cabanela stopped in the grass. He stood, face turned up toward the sky and bathed in the sun’s warm glow. He thought of light dancing along white plumage… Yes, it seemed to him something of the aeon still remained, or perhaps it had always been there, Jowd thought.

The image was swiftly broken as Lynne came running up and Cabanela promptly sat cross-legged in the grass to give her his full attention, as she showed him a new sword move she’d learned.

“Yomiel taught me!”

An attempt to placate her, hm, Yomiel? Jowd thought to himself.

He watched and a sense of contentment he couldn’t last remember rose in his chest. His contentment only swelled when he spotted Alma coming toward them. She joined him and he wrapped an arm around her while they watched Cabanela gesture for Lynne’s sword. Ice flowed from his fingers and ran along the blade to her growing delight.

He chuckled as Lynne, icy blade in hand, ran towards Yomiel, who appeared to be quickly trying to skirt around their small gathering.

“At least it’s blunt,” Alma said with a quiet laugh.

He could feel Yomiel’s exasperation from here at the failed escape and Cabanela’s amusement couldn’t be clearer.

He wondered how long it would take for the full impact of what they’d done to hit, but he realized he wasn’t worried. Their hardest battle was won. Whatever came their way they would face it together. Jowd was happy to enjoy their time now. Together.


End file.
